USC roster recruiting roundup

Football, soccer and men’s basketball may not be in their competitive seasons, but all three sports have had major recruiting and transfer portal news since their seasons ended. Let’s catch up on the three marquee sports:

Football

Major football recruiting news usually doesn’t arrive during the spring, but Head Coach Lincoln Riley and the Trojans managed to reel in a big fish as spring ball rolls onward. Duce Robinson, a five-star and consensus No. 1 tight end prospect from the Class of 2023, committed to play at USC next season over two-time defending national champion Georgia and perennial powerhouse Alabama. 

It’s hard to overstate this big recruiting win for Riley and company. To sign any five-star merits praise, but securing a top-20 player in the country at a position of need is huge, especially when your direct rivals are the two most dominant football programs in the SEC.

Robinson will hopefully arrive at USC ready to play immediately because, as things stand, he will likely be at the top of the tight end depth chart. Redshirt senior tight end Malcolm Epps had two touchdowns in 2022, but will not return to the program for the 2023 season. Riley seems to trust redshirt sophomore tight end Lake McRee in the endzone — McRee also caught two touchdowns last season — but the Austin, Texas native has not contributed in the open field like Robinson should be able to.

Standing at 6 feet’ 6 inches”, Robinson could provide rising junior quarterback Caleb Williams with a true over-the-middle passing option that was sometimes lacking last season. But Robinson is not a lumbering giant of a tight end. He has a spindly stature and runs quickly in the open field. In fact, don’t be surprised to see Robinson line up at wide receiver at times next season, as he did in high school, especially as he adjusts to the demands of blocking at the collegiate level.

Of course, Robinson’s commitment is not just a win for the football team, but for USC baseball as well. Robinson was a high-level baseball prospect before he even started playing football, and baseball was reportedly a crucial part of Robinson’s recruiting process. Robinson said he wants to play both sports professionally, and as a top-100 prospect in the upcoming MLB Draft, we’ll see how his priorities change depending on how high he goes.

In the meantime, just enjoy watching Robinson’s highlights and dreaming about the throws he could unlock for Williams.

Men’s Basketball

After ending their season with a first-round NCAA tournament loss to the Michigan State Spartans, the Trojans may see two players depart for greener pastures at other schools; sophomore guard Reese Dixon-Waters and sophomore guard Malik Thomas entered the transfer portal in March. 

Dixon-Waters, in particular, had a crucial off-the-bench role in Head Coach Andy Enfield’s rotation. The 6-foot-5 sophomore guard from Long Beach won the Pac-12 Sixth Player of the Year award for his off-the-bench scoring that provided a spark plug, particularly when senior guard Boogie Ellis or guard fifth-year guard Drew Peterson were off the floor. Dixon-Waters was effective from inside the arc, shooting 43.851.3%, but struggled from three at 29.6%, down from his previous season. 

Dixon-Waters has flashed the ability to at least be a starter on a high-caliber team, if not a primary or secondary scorer in the right place. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Dixon-Waters attended the San Diego State postseason celebration after they made a run to the national championship game. On Tuesday, Dixon-Waters committed to the Aztecs.

But his Dixon-Waters’ list of courters did not end there. He visited with Texas and UCLA and was also contacted by other top programs such as Kansas, Arkansas and Alabama. 

While losing Dixon-Waters will hurt — the quality of programs chasing him proves that — it’s possible that he felt like his role would still be limited with Ellis staying one more year and the impending arrival of top-recruit Isaiah Collier and potentially Bronny James, who would eat up minutes at guard.

Thomas played a much smaller role than Dixon-Waters, averaging only eight minutes on the court per game. Without much room to move up in the depth chart, Thomas will be looking for a team in which he can play a greater role next season.

Women’s Soccer

The women’s soccer team saw one of the Pac-12’s best players from the 2022 season return to her home state to play for the Georgia Bulldogs. Senior midfielder Croix Bethune, who had 7 goals and 8 assists in 2022, decided to reunite with former USC head coach Keidane McAlpine in Athens, who coached Bethune for her first three collegiate seasons. McAlpine’s UGA team finished fourth in the SEC East in his first year in the program. 

Bethune was a two-time fFirst-tTeam All-American and ran the show as an attacking midfielder in 2022. The Trojans will struggle to replace her goalscoring and creativity. Bethune’s departure places an even bigger responsibility on sophomore forward Simone Jackson to be the team’s primary goal-scoring outlet.

Fellow Atlanta native junior forward Hannah White will follow Bethune to Athens for her final year of eligibility. Playing primarily as a striker, White only scored 5 goals in her career at USC but pressed relentlessly from the front and offered a more physical presence at 5-foot-10 than the shorter Jackson or Bethune.

In all, it’s been a mixed offseason for these sports. Football will be celebrating a big recruiting victory, but men’s basketball and women’s soccer will need the rest of their rosters to step up and replace their departing teammates.